€45 food tours, croissant workshops, immersive cheese, craft gin... We tested 11 culinary experiences in Paris. Here's our verdict.
Paris didn't steal its reputation as the world's food capital. But between the €25 croque-monsieur brasseries near the Eiffel Tower and those Instagram-friendly restaurants where you're mostly paying for the décor, it's easy to miss the real foodie Paris. The one where Parisians actually eat.
We tested 11 culinary experiences, from street food tours to chef-led workshops, to bring you the guide that tourists don't have. Our total exploration budget: from €17 for a cheese tasting to €155 for a gourmet stroll through the covered passages. There's something for every wallet, and especially for every appetite.
The NoDietClub revolution: the €45 food tour that changes everything
If you haven't heard of NoDietClub yet, it's time to catch up. This collective of food-obsessed locals has been running themed food tours across Paris since 2017, and they've literally reinvented the concept. The formula: 3 hours of walking, 5 to 8 carefully curated spots, half-portions at each stop so you can taste everything, and local guides who know every alley in the neighbourhood. All for €45, tastings included. That's less than an average dinner at a decent Parisian restaurant, except here you're eating at six of them.
The Belleville spicy tour is their highest-rated gem, 5/5 with 22 reviews, making it the most popular food tour in our selection. Over 3 hours, you cross Belleville, the most multicultural neighbourhood in Paris, hitting 8 spots where the food genuinely packs heat. Tongue-numbing noodles, chilli dumplings, devilish skewers... The guide adjusts the spice level to your tolerance (yes, they've thought of everything). Meeting point is in front of Mala Boom, 42 rue Jean-Pierre Timbaud in the 11th, Oberkampf metro.
Spicy Food Tour in Belleville
3 hours tasting the best spicy dishes in Paris through Belleville. Get ready for your taste buds to be on fire!
The burger tour draws a different crowd, mostly friend groups or hen parties who embrace the decadence. 6 half-burgers in 3 hours, from classic smash burgers to fried burrata sandwiches. The half-portion concept is genius: you taste everything without needing a stretcher afterwards. Meet at Sold Out Burger in the 10th, République metro. If you're after something more adventurous in the same area, their Japanese tour takes you to 5 authentic Japanese restaurants (gyoza, takoyaki, onigiri, karaage and mochi), far from the tourist traps on rue Sainte-Anne. Same price, same duration, completely different vibe.
No Diet Club: Best Parisian Burgers Tour
3 hours to taste Paris's 6 best burgers with passionate locals. Get ready to blow your calorie count!
Japanese Food Tour with NoDietClub
3 hours of pure indulgence in Paris' best Japanese spots. Real gyoza, takoyaki and other delights to discover with friends!
And if you think pizza in Paris is inevitably mediocre compared to Naples, their pizza tour will change your mind. 6 handpicked pizzerias, a quarter pizza at each stop, and a genuine revelation: Paris now rivals the best Italian cities. The guides know their stuff and the atmosphere is relaxed, perfect for a night out with friends or even a laid-back first date.
Best Pizza Tour in Paris
A foodie journey through 6 must-visit Parisian pizzerias. 3 hours of pure indulgence with guides who really know the best spots!
Budget tip
Authentic foodie Paris: markets and covered passages
Food tours are great for discovering street food. But if you want to understand why Paris is the world's gastronomic capital, you need to dive into its markets and covered passages, where Parisians actually do their shopping and where artisans carry on centuries-old traditions.
The Aligre market is our absolute favourite in this category. This small market near Bastille in the 12th has kept its working-class soul while the entire neighbourhood gentrified around it. Every morning except Monday, vendors set up their stalls and regulars show up with their wicker baskets. The 3-hour visit with a local guide takes you to the best addresses in the covered market: exceptional cheese shops, artisan charcuteries, fine chocolates and carefully selected wines. The highlight? The final aperitif on a real wine barrel in the middle of the street, just like the locals do. At €110, it's pricier than the NoDietClub food tours, but the experience is in another league entirely, more intimate, more refined, more "real Paris". Meet at 159 rue du Faubourg Saint-Antoine, Ledru-Rollin metro.
Aligre Market: Foodie walking tour with tastings
Explore Paris' most authentic market with a passionate local guide. Sample cheeses, charcuterie and wines in Aligre's unique atmosphere.
If Aligre is working-class Paris, the covered passages are 19th-century bourgeois Paris, and the gourmet walk through them is a treasure. Over 3 hours, you explore 5 magnificent galleries with their period glass roofs and intact mosaics, while tasting the finest pastries, cheeses and charcuteries from artisans who've been there for decades. You finish in an 18th-century secret garden. Yes, a secret garden. At €155 it's the premium option in this guide, but those in the know say it's worth every cent, and it works even when it's raining, thanks to those glass ceilings.
Foodie Tour Through 19th Century Covered Passages
A tour that blends history and gastronomy in Paris's most beautiful covered passages. The perfect excuse to discover these hidden gems while indulging in delicious treats!
For something in between, the Les Halles gourmet walk is the perfect compromise. 2.5 hours in the "belly of Paris" with a stop at Stohrer, the oldest patisserie in the capital (founded in 1730!), exceptional cheese shops and traditional charcuteries. Groups are capped at 8, which keeps the atmosphere genuinely friendly. You'll also learn about French culinary history from the Middle Ages between bites. The guide is a true enthusiast. Les Halles or Sentier metro.
Food Tour of Les Halles: Into the Belly of Paris
Explore the Les Halles district, known as the "belly of Paris". Taste pastries, cheeses and charcuterie at the neighborhood's finest spots.
Get your hands dirty: cooking workshops in Paris
Tasting is great, but knowing how to make it is even better. Paris is packed with cooking workshops, but most are tourist factories where you pay €100 to watch a chef do the work. We picked the ones where you ACTUALLY get your hands in the dough, and leave with real skills.
The croissant workshop at Maison Fleuret is THE unmissable classic, and the numbers speak for themselves: 4.91/5 with 760 reviews. Seven hundred and sixty. It's the most sought-after workshop in all of Paris. At this respected pastry school in the Quartier Latin, you learn the real techniques of butter puff pastry. Yes, it's long, yes, it's technical, but that's exactly what real pâtisserie is. You make your own croissants AND chocolate escargots, and you learn the fascinating history of French viennoiserie along the way. At €135 it's an investment, but you leave with genuine know-how, not just a selfie in an apron. Meet at 3 rue des Trois Portes in the 5th. If you're looking for more workshops in the same spirit, check out our guide to the best creative workshops in Paris.
Editor's pickCroissant Workshop at Maison Fleuret
Learn to make authentic French croissants at the legendary Maison Fleuret pastry school. Professional technique and tasting guaranteed!
For something completely different, the gin workshop in a hidden micro-distillery in the 1st arrondissement is a genuine surprise. At 52 rue de l'Arbre Sec (look for the big blue door, head to the back of the courtyard), you choose your botanicals (juniper, coriander, citrus), then distil everything in a real copper alembic, and leave with your own personalised 70cl bottle complete with your custom label. All in 2 hours, craft cocktail tasting included. At €110 it's not cheap, but you literally own a one-of-a-kind artisan gin bottle. Ideal for a hen party, team building, or just to impress your friends at the next apéro.
Distillery Workshop: Make Your Own Gin in Paris
Step into the shoes of a distiller and create your own bottle of gin in a Parisian micro-distillery. A unique experience with tasting and copper still!
The art of tasting: wine, cheese and cocktails
You don't need to get your hands dirty to learn something. Some of the best food experiences in Paris are tastings, as long as you pick the right ones.
The Cheese Experience is the best value in this entire guide: €17.60 for a completely bonkers experience where cheeses literally talk to you. The concept: 9 immersive rooms across 350m² where you wander with your cheese trolley while tasting 6 exceptional varieties selected by Gérard Petit, a Meilleur Ouvrier de France (France's highest artisan distinction). Yes, it's kitschy. Yes, it's brilliant. The AOP Camembert, the Réserve Comté, the Roquefort, each cheese comes with its own story and universe. For €17, you won't find anything better in Paris. At 12 boulevard Montmartre in the 9th, Grands Boulevards metro. If you like deals, we've listed more in our Paris under €30 guide.
Cheese Experience Paris - Immersive Cheese Tasting
A hilarious experience where cheeses talk to you in 9 immersive rooms. Push your cart and taste 6 exceptional cheeses selected by a master craftsman.
For a more classic and intimate approach, the wine and cheese tasting in the Quartier Latin is the option that wins over serious enthusiasts. A certified sommelier, official instructor for Burgundy wines, no less, guides you through 4 wines (2 whites, 2 reds) perfectly paired with 4 farmhouse cheeses. All in a real cellar in the 5th arrondissement, not an Instagram showroom. 1.5 hours, €47, groups capped at 12. You learn to read a French label, decode aromas, and understand why a certain wine belongs with a certain cheese. The kind of evening that turns a novice into an informed enthusiast, perfect for a date night that's a bit more cerebral than usual.
Wine & cheese tasting with a sommelier
Discover the art of perfect pairing between French wines and cheeses in a Latin Quarter cellar. Led by a real sommelier, it's THE experience to understand why we're the wine bosses!
Our tips for eating like a local in Paris
After testing all these experiences, here's what we learned:
- Always book 3-5 days ahead. NoDietClub food tours sell out on weekends, and the Maison Fleuret croissant workshop has weeks-long waiting lists. Weekdays are easier, and often cheaper.
- Don't arrive on a full stomach. Especially for food tours (5-8 stops). A light coffee in the morning is plenty. You'll taste the equivalent of 2 full meals in 3 hours.
- Mention allergies when booking. All tours offer vegetarian options, but you need to flag it in advance so guides can prepare.
- Tuesdays and Wednesdays are the best days. Fewer crowds, better availability, and sometimes reduced prices. Weekends get mobbed.
- Combine experiences. A NoDietClub food tour in the morning (€45) + the Cheese Experience in the afternoon (€17) = a full gourmet day for €62. Unbeatable.
Browse all our culinary experiences in our food & drink activities catalogue.
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